Saturday 30 August 1662
Up betimes among my workmen, and so to the office, where we sat all the morning, and at noon rose and had news that Sir W. Pen would be in town from Ireland, which I much wonder at, he giving so little notice of it, and it troubled me exceedingly what to do for a lodging, and more what to do with my goods, that are all in his house; but at last I resolved to let them lie there till Monday, and so got Griffin to get a lodging as near as he could, which is without a door of our back door upon Tower Hill, a chamber where John Davis, one of our clerks, do lie in, but he do provide himself elsewhere, and I am to have his chamber. So at the office all the afternoon and the evening till past to at night expecting Sir W. Pen’s coming, but he not coming to-night I went thither and there lay very well, and like my lodging well enough. My man Will after he had got me to bed did go home and lay there, and my maid Jane lay among my goods at Sir W. Pen’s.
22 Annotations
First Reading
Terry F, • Link
Robert Gertz told us what might happen were Sir W. Pen to return suddenly from Ireland
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
dirk • Link
John Evelyn's diary yesterday & today:
29 The Council & Fellows of the R[oyal]: Society, went in Body to White hall, to accknowledge his Majesties royal grace, in granting our Charter, & vouchsafing to be himselfe our Founder: when our President, my L: Brounchar made an eloquent Speech, to which his Majestie gave a gracious reply, & then we all kissed his hand:
[30] Next day, we went in like manner with our addresse to my Lord High-Chancelor, who had much promoted our Patent &c: who received us with extraordinary favour: In the Evening I went to Queene-Mothers Court & had much discourse with her Majestie & so returnd home late.
LindaF • Link
Heartening entry as I write from the Texas coast, having fled ahead of a hurricane from New Orleans, glad of a place to land, leaving goods and all behind. Not too long ago I wondered in an annotation to this site how SP could leave books, paintings and clothes exposed to the rain in his under-renovation house, rain coming in through an absent roof. Life has a way of answering rhetorical questions, and the answer is that you make some provision and count on being back soon and not on the deluge. Accessing this site to see Sam, too, put to the unexpected task of finding another place of rest is oddly comforting. And since he does not criticize the workmen, the quality or pace of their effort must be improving:they're "his" workmen now. And how kind of Sir W Penn to give notice of his return.
dirk • Link
"a lodging as near as he could, which is without a door..."
"without" meaning "outside" - "on the other side of" here
Terry F, • Link
"without a door of our back door upon Tower Hill"
or OED "without door" adv. phr. (adj.) Obs. = next.
Terry F, • Link
"I am to have [John Davis's] chamber."
L&M note: "Pepys lodged there until 30 September."
Clement • Link
"...till past to at night..."
So Will sat/worked with Sam at the office until 2AM, and then put him to bed (not sure what that entails) at Penn's before going "home" and turning in himself. Seems Sam's late, virulent compaints to Will are perhaps a little overblown.
A. Hamilton • Link
Heartening entry
Thank you, Linda F. I have been riveted by the fate of one of my favorite cities. The saga continues, alas, because of the
broken levee.
"Pepys lodged there until 30 September." Poor man. The water damage seems to have turned what looked like a quick job into one that will have taken a quarter of the year before he can move back in.
Just think what drying out New Orleans will take!
Terry F, • Link
LindaF, glad you are safely away from and west of New Orleans, and that SP has providentially answered your earlier question. (I write this as the rain from that hurricane ends, 551 miles (888 Km) north, my TV tuned for a second day to the coverage of the storm's ravages.) Indeed, even cherished things are just that. Today SP decides that's the case with his that are left at Sir W. Pen's: they will be dealt with later if they are still there.
Robert Gertz • Link
From Atlanta, Linda our best...And to our other friends in our beloved New Orleans. Help is on the way.
And as you no doubt know Sam and his dear wife and friends will be a good guide to the endurance of the human spirit...
***
Poor Jane left alone to face the wrath of Penn? Sam!
Will snugly and smugly ensconced in his study...At Sam's behest this time.
"A glass of fine Madiera, Mr. Hewer? I should say so, Mr. Hewer. Perhaps a good book from Mr. Pepys' collection to while away the evening, Mr. Hewer? Indeed, Mr. Hewer."
A scream from the Penn home...Will races over to find...
An extremely terrified Jane in nightgown...
But not nearly so frightened...Or embarassed as the good Admiral.
Though his fear has nothing to do with that of a physical confrontation with some burglar...
"Und vat iss dis in mine home, Admiral?! A lady...A young lady?! Sleeping in our bedroom?!!" A furious Lady Penn glaring at Jane.
"Anne, darling. This is Pepys' maid, Jane. You know Jane."
"Ach..." A gimlet-eyed look... "Ja, I know the girl, Admiral. And I seen you lookin' at her. So, you been having her sleepin' in mine bed? In mine own home?! For shame, Admiral! Now I know why you wanted to head home before the rest of us. Margaret, hide you eyes for shame, girl of what you should not see."
"Anne, dearest."
Todd Bernhardt • Link
re: "till past to at night..."
Methinks "to" is a scanning error of "10," Clement, rather than "2." But a late night nonetheless. As for Sam's complaints, perhaps Will's attentiveness is the result of his "discussion" with Sam the other night, rather than Sam's complaints being overblown?
Linda, glad you're safe and sound, and here's hoping the others affected by the storm (which is pushing storm clouds toward me in the Washington, DC, area as I type) recover as quickly as possible.
Jeannine • Link
Linda F., New Orleans and a little spolier to come... Linda, glad that you are safe and sound... hope any other annotators and families are safe as well..... while away I was reading a book called "Samuel Pepys in the Diary" by Percival Hunt. It's a collection of essays, etc. about the diary. I was reading the article called "The Great Fire" which was sort of eerie given a hurricane brewing in the background and CNN broadcasting the evacuation process out of New Orleans. Soon enough, Sam will be mirroring the New Orleans evacuation experience and scrambling to pack every single item that he owns --the diary included-- and getting his belongings and family to safety--and all without the help of radar, CNN, etc. to give him advance warning.
Cumgranissalis • Link
Methinks "to" is a scanning error of "10," it was so, some time back, another entree ‘to’ was “10”.
Cumgranissalis • Link
"...The Council & Fellows of the R[oyal]: Society..." I was a reading to-day that this August bodie did not tell all, as they were under oathe to keep it quiet, that most did belong to an infamous bodie called Freemasons, which did not become known to the hoi poloi until 1717 or there abouts. Was Samuell one? It is claimed that great Architect Christopher Wren be one. One of its Tenets be, that God should be accessable with out the intercession of the clerical societies.
Terry F, • Link
Todd Bernhardt says, "Methinks 'to' is a scanning error of '10'”; Cumgranissalis agrees, citing a prior instance thereof; L&M agree too.
Terry F, • Link
"After the granting of the Royal Charter, the Society quickly added the antiquarian Elias Ashmole, famous amongst Freemasons as being the first accepted or speculative Freemason for whom written records exist in England.
"Sir Christopher Wren was a founding member of the Society and served as its president from 1680 to 1682. According to William Preston, Wren became a Freemason in 1691, although John Aubrey, a founder of the Society and a Freemason himself, claimed Wren was already a Warden of the Craft by 1663! The Masonic records of Wren are contradictory, with some sources even stating he was a Grand Master.
"Amongst other prominent members of the Royal Society, the philosopher and theorist of liberalism, John Locke, admitted to being a Freemason in a letter dated 1696. Even Benjamin Franklin, American revolutionary and prominent Freemason, was admitted to the Society. Robert Boyle was not a Mason at the founding of the Royal Society, but became one later.
"Sir Isaac Newton, President from 1703 to 1727, belonged to a curious quasi-masonic society that met in Spalding. He nominated John Desaguliers as Curator of Experiments 1712. Desaguliers was the first man to demonstrate the existence of the atom. He became the Grand Master of the Freemasons in 1719, and was most influential in shaping the form that 18th century Freemasonry was to take."
or at least so "Freemasonry, the Royal Society, and the Age of Discovery." W.Bro Alex Davidson, Ph.D. http://transitofvenus.auckland.ac…
Pauline • Link
'L&M agree too'
Exceptionally smart and in-depth in their own right, they show percipitude in supporting Todd and Cumgranissalis in this.
Cumgranissalis • Link
"The Great Fire" or “God’s Terrible Voice in the city 1667”
What does one say, to those that be in such a Apocalytic, Cataclysmic, ‘tis an experience like non other. Words be not enough.
LindaF • Link
Thank you all very much for your thoughts and good wishes. As the waters rise in New Orleans, SP and your comments are good company to reinforce what is important: we are safe and alive and keenly aware of God in his heaven and the transience (if persistence) of everything else, including Great Fires and slowly rising floods. And of the power of the written word over any number of centuries.
Australian Susan • Link
My thoughts and prayers are with all those in Louisiana, Mississipi, Alabama, Florida and other effected States. Here in Australia, we have floods and storms in Victoria, but our hurricane/cyclone season is at the oppositite time of the year and these are unusual.
London will also experience in 1665/6 the problem we are unfortuinately seeing on our TV news: looting.
Robert Gertz • Link
Of course, if Will Jr. were available, we might see-
"Gott und Himmel?!…William?!" Ann Penn comes as near to fainting as a tough Dutchwoman ever may"
"Willy?" Margaret blinks at her red-faced brother Caught rather red-handed in the parents' bedroom.
"Christ Jesus, boy! What the devil are you doing with that" Penn reaches near apoplexy "Jane?..."
"Pepys' Jane?"
"Aye, sir." Jane looking sheepish in her nightgown.
"Now, Father Put aside thy wr?"
"I'll show wrath, boy!!" Penn rages at his namesake. "I charge you to open the house for us and what do we? Your mother find but this?" Ever closer to apoplexy.
"Sir, it was my fault. Mr. Pepys asked me to stay tonight and watch over his goods. I'd no idea young Mr. Penn would..."
"What does that have to do with this, lass?! Did my idiot son stumble and fall into his nightshirt and then into bed with ye?"
"Margaret, get ye out!" Anne commands. A very reluctant Meg slowly being shoved out.
"Father, fear not. I have determined to do the right thing by sister Jane here and shall not be found wanting. Together she and I shall explore the limits of Christ's holy."
"What?!!! You, idiot!! Another word and I shall..."
"I've no desire to marry, Will" Jane suddenly cuts in.
Jane?
"But Jane Thou and I have tasted the fruits of Christ's divine..."
"And it was very nice, truly Will... But..."
"You don't want to marry my son?" Penn stares... Annoyance now mingling with rage... And relief.
The same expression on Anne's face now...
"Oh, he be a fine lad, sir. No offense intended, Will... Ma'am. But I be unready to wed just yet. Rather likes my freedom, does I."
"Hewer!" Penn finds a new vent for his rage... And astonishment as Will H peeps round the door. "What the devil are you about here?"
"Heard a scream, sir. I knew Jane..."
"There's nothing about for you here, the girl is fine, just started her when we came. Get out!"
Hewer leaves, noting Will Jr's rather unexplainable state...And agitation...
I shall forego all thoughts of the world, Will Jr. thinks, sighing at Jane. God alone shall have my undivided heart from this day forth…
That be our Janey.. Hewer smiles to himself, heading out.
Second Reading
Dick Wilson • Link
It has been ten years since Hurricane Katrina broke the levies at New Orleans. The official death toll is 1,833. Thirty bodies remain unidentified. Fifty others remain unclaimed. Glad you made it out, Linda F.